Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials found a large sensimilla marijuana garden on public land in Delta County during an annual aerial search on the afternoon of Wednesday 4 August 2005.[1] Special Agent in Charge John Silence said the plants had a street value of more than $6 million and that the site appeared to have been cultivated for several years.[1]

A team of BLM and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers, the Colorado National Guard and the Delta County Sheriff’s Office removed about 3,000 pounds of marijuana from the location.[1] Because of the volume, BLM used a wildland fire helicopter to haul the material away for destruction.[1] The article does not say whether anyone was present or arrested at the garden.[1]

Since 1989 the agency has flown public lands in Colorado—about 8.3 million acres—to locate illegal crops, Silence said, to protect users and employees from hidden cultivation sites.[1]